A problem encountered by many mothers is that active children can injure themselves by climbing out of a shopping cart while the mother is distracted. Various restraining devices have been disclosed by people trying to solve this problem. Concerned that a child might be injured falling out of one of their shopping carts, some supermarket owners and shopping cart manufactures have provided safety devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,800 dated Nov. 5, 1985 discloses a shopping cart safety belt with an adjustable loop at one end, which is placed around the child's waist, and a snap fastener at the other end which is fastened to the shopping cart. A drawback of this kind of restraining device is that a child's buttocks generally are smaller than its torso, so the child can wriggle upwards out of the loop.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,430 dated Apr. 13, 1982 discloses a seat-like carrier which is attached to the shopping cart by straps and includes a series of straps to fasten around the child to secure it to the carrier and hence to the shopping cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,622 dated Jan. 20, 1987 discloses a strap or belt which is used as a cinch to pass through the bars of the shopping cart and around the waist of the child.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,695 dated May 27, 1980 discloses a collapsible child seat with a waist belt. The child is secured in the child seat by means of the waist belt and the child seat is installed in the seating compartment of the shopping cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,676 dated Dec. 31, 1985 discloses a shopping cart with a safety belt which is clipped to the seating compartment either side of the child and extends across the child's chest to secure it to the shopping cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,464 dated Sep. 19, 1989 discloses a shopping cart with a restraint in the form of a harness which extends around the child's waist with shoulder straps which extend over the child's shoulders from front to back. The waist belt and shoulder straps are passed around and through the bars of the shopping cart and fastened together to secure the child to the shopping cart.
These child restraint devices indicate that there is a need for a safe way to secure a child in a shopping cart but generally are not sufficiently secure because the child can wiggle out or are so complicated that they are unlikely to be used by the typical shopper who has neither time or patience. Many different customers must use the shopping carts and their children will be of all shapes and sizes so it is important that the child restraint be quick and easy to use.
Various other child restraining devices have been disclosed for use with baby carriages, chairs and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,216 dated Jan. 3, 1990, discloses a child retaining device in the form of two flexible bands fastened together at their mid-points in cruciform manner. The crossover portion is placed between the child and the seat. Two ends extend upwards between the child's legs, around the child's hips and around the chair back. Behind the chair, they are fastened to the other ends. This child retaining device also suffers from the disadvantage that the child can wriggle upwards to free itself.
A baby carriage of the kind sometimes referred to as a "stroller" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,252 dated Mar. 17, 1987. It comprises an annular belt to fit around the child's waist and a connecting section which connects the annular belt to the carriage so that the child cannot stand up. This kind of seat belt also suffers from the disadvantage that a child can wriggle upwards out of it.
U.S. Pat. No. 219,252 dated June 1922 discloses a safety strap for securely holding an infant in a baby carriage, chair or the like. It comprises a breast band and a pair of shoulder straps. The latter are attached to the breast band and connected to each other by a back strap. The shoulder straps pass under the child's armpits and over its shoulders. The two ends of each strap are fastened to the breast band at the front by means of a buckle type fastener. The breast band is then attached to the chair or baby carriage. A disadvantage of this kind of device is that the width of the back strap must be carefully adjusted if the child is not to wriggle out the shoulder straps. This is inconvenient and time consuming, especially if the safety belt is to be used for children of different shapes and sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 293,185 dated September 1929 discloses a baby harness for holding an infant in a baby carriage. It comprises a belt which fits around the body of the infant and is secured to the baby carriage. A pair of belt supporting straps are fastened to the belt at their ends so as to extend over the shoulders of the infant. The supporting straps pass through retaining plates, one at the front and one at the back, which hold them in crossed relationship about the middle of the child's trunk. This kind of harness also suffers from the disadvantage that it is not easy to adjust to children of different sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,605 dated Oct. 12, 1971 discloses a restraining device for restraining a patient in a chair. This comprises a belt and two shoulder straps which are fixedly attached to the belt at one end. Their free ends extend over the patient's shoulders and are attached to the belt behind the chair. Although such a device would restrain a child from wriggling upwards out of a waist belt, it would not be easy to adapt it for use in a variety of different circumstances and/or with children of different shapes and sizes.
Concerned that a child might be injured falling out of one of their shopping carts, some supermarket owners have tried providing safety devices but they were not used because they were not simple and easy to use and adjust. It will be appreciated that many different customers will use the shopping carts and their children will be of all shapes and sizes.
An object of the present invention is to provide a restraining device which is readily adapted for use with a variety of different seat-bearing devices, such as a shopping cart, a "stroller", or a dining (high) chair, and is easily adjusted to accommodate children of different shapes and sizes.